Roseisle-News.com

Forecast for the next few days looks to be unsettled with showers and sunny intervals followed by days of mainly cloudy skies with sunny spells. Daytime temperatures between 17-21 C degrees and nighttime temperatures around 13 C degrees and with light winds for the coming week or two.

What a month we have had with dry, warm and light winds so the light rains were such a welcome sight a few days back and the plants lapped the moisture up!! When it becomes so very warm we need to wet the greenhouse floor to keep the moisture level more acceptable to the plants. The vegetables get watered as do any sagging plants in the dry weather.

So far in the past 2-3 weeks we have not needed to mow our lawns which gives us a chance to catch up with edging of the grass. There is plenty of deadheading of Roses, Sweetpeas and perennials and with the small amount of grass clippings it is ideal for a good compost concoction.

Our flower borders are coming to their best with the colour and buzzing of insects and scent of the roses blooming, even the star performers of the Lupins which are now in their second flush with the smaller flower heads. I am still keeping an eye open for the Red Lily beetle which when spotted don’t last long! We have had an attack of Sawfly on the Solomon’s Seal with many, many caterpillars crawling all over the plants and have sprayed the plants all over with a healthy dose of washing up liquid.

Our wildflower mix areas are coming on far better then expected and we are hoping for a colourful display, attracting a variety of insects which be interesting to identify the different species. In the polytunnel we have two big toads and to our surprise a big frog too. Thrushes and small birds venture into the tunnel looking for insects. All is growing well there and now that the Tomatoes are flowering, a weekly feed of Tomorite is in order and also making sure we nip out the young side shoots below the flower truss. The Tomorite or liquid Seaweed is applied to the leeks and onions outside in the vegetable bed. It is the first time we are feeding the leeks and onions as we determined to get a good crop. Our Comfrey ‘dung’ should be ready to use and we will add that to the leeks and onions when I can remember to do so.

The Wisteria needs the cutting back of the straggly long shoots but we will have to wait as there is a birds nest with young ones in it. In a week or two the hedge will need a prune on the inside so that we keep the pathway open.

The time has come to pick Strawberries every few days sharing with a cheeky mouse or two! This will be followed by the Raspberries and by the look of them there will be a good crop. This can’t be said for our Currant bushes and as for the Cherries the birds will be lucky to find any at all. We had plenty of blossom and I know the Bumblebees had a field day pollinating the flowers but nature surprises us all the time!

David has to regularly tend the pond by lifting out pond weed making sure to check his haul in his net and return the water snails, newts and dragonfly larvae back to the pond.

We appreciate all we find in our garden and try and make the most of its bounty. Hope all you gardeners and nature lovers have a happy and productive summer!

After some light showers for today, the week and beyond look to be cloudy with sunny spells with night-time temperatures around 10C degrees and day-time temperatures between 16-22C degrees with mainly southerly winds.

I can’t tell you how much joy the downpour from heaven, a few nights ago, gave us especially as some plants were looking drunk due to lack of water! The occasion needed to be photographed!

The garden is fairly coming on, the gaps in the borders, due to lost shrubs, have mostly been filled with annuals and plants from our nursery which needed to be planted out. The colours and scents are coming from the Hesperis, (Dame’s rocket) and the Lupins which fill the flower borders at the moment.

A lot of weeding has been done in the last weeks and the last leg is along the new hedge and the strawberry bed. Weeding of the vegetable beds will be a constant task for the coming week or two.

The potatoes are being earthed up and we are looking now for signs of the peas to come through after a poor first sowing germination rate. We had this problem with the peas and beans last year too so we are not sure where we are going wrong. An improvement must be found for the 2022 season. Saying that the carrots have had a great germination this year as last year we had to resow the gaps in the carrots rows!

We keep deadheading the Tulips, some of them have lasted until now and the Camassias too have finished flowering. Edging the lawn and cutting the grass is a weekly task as we cut sections of grass once a week and not the whole grass area all at once.

We are coming to the stage in our garden when we can take time out and enjoy the beauty of the coming changes of flowers and plants. We now find the time to visit other SGS gardens, which you can find online or in the “Yellow Book”, to fill our imagination and make new discoveries of plants and ideas and it is a great day out meeting and revisiting other garden lovers.

It is a special time of year to value the efforts and labour put into your garden, before the coming harvest of fruit and vegetables in a month or two! Enjoy the beauty surrounding you which is filled with birdsong and the humming of insects, what better way to lift ones spirits! If you get the chance have a go and hug a tree and listen and feel the life in your arms!

Happy gardening all!